May 13, 2009
BANGKOK - TWO American journalists deported from military-ruled Myanmar said on Wednesday they could not explain why their officially sanctioned trip was abruptly terminated.
Authorities detained Jerry Redfern and Karen Coates in the city of Mandalay after they had finished workshops for local journalists, which they say were approved by the police and censorship board.
They were deported to Bangkok on May 7.
'We could speculate all day long on why we were expelled. Nobody said anything to us when we were being held. They told us they were only following orders,' said Mr Redfern, a freelance photographer from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The couple said they heard numerous rumours about their arrest, with some saying it was fallout from the arrest of an American accused of swimming across a lake last week to sneak into the home of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon.
But the couple said no one was able to verify if that was the case.
The man, identified as John William Yettaw, is being held by Myanmar authorities and has not had access to the US Embassy.
Mr Redfern and Ms Coates, a freelance journalist and author of a book on Cambodia, were conducting classes in feature writing and photography sponsored by the US Embassy's American Centre in Yangon, which in the past has been accused by the regime of fomenting dissent within the country.
US Embassy spokesman Richard Mei confirmed the deportation but declined further comment. There has also been no announcement from Myanmar authorities about the case.
The couple denied working on sensitive stories during their stay, but were planning an article on a popular Myanmar dish - pickled tea leaf salad.
They had fixed an appointment with the owner of a pickled tea leaf business and another rumour was circulating that a rival businessman convinced authorities that the two should be apprehended. -- AP
Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/SE%2BAsia/Story/STIStory_376236.html
BANGKOK - TWO American journalists deported from military-ruled Myanmar said on Wednesday they could not explain why their officially sanctioned trip was abruptly terminated.
Authorities detained Jerry Redfern and Karen Coates in the city of Mandalay after they had finished workshops for local journalists, which they say were approved by the police and censorship board.
They were deported to Bangkok on May 7.
'We could speculate all day long on why we were expelled. Nobody said anything to us when we were being held. They told us they were only following orders,' said Mr Redfern, a freelance photographer from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The couple said they heard numerous rumours about their arrest, with some saying it was fallout from the arrest of an American accused of swimming across a lake last week to sneak into the home of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon.
But the couple said no one was able to verify if that was the case.
The man, identified as John William Yettaw, is being held by Myanmar authorities and has not had access to the US Embassy.
Mr Redfern and Ms Coates, a freelance journalist and author of a book on Cambodia, were conducting classes in feature writing and photography sponsored by the US Embassy's American Centre in Yangon, which in the past has been accused by the regime of fomenting dissent within the country.
US Embassy spokesman Richard Mei confirmed the deportation but declined further comment. There has also been no announcement from Myanmar authorities about the case.
The couple denied working on sensitive stories during their stay, but were planning an article on a popular Myanmar dish - pickled tea leaf salad.
They had fixed an appointment with the owner of a pickled tea leaf business and another rumour was circulating that a rival businessman convinced authorities that the two should be apprehended. -- AP
Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/SE%2BAsia/Story/STIStory_376236.html
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